The present invention relates generally to fasteners and devices and methods for placing fasteners in a workpiece and, more particularly, to novel non-removable permanently-placeable fasteners, permanently-placeable but removable fasteners, headless removable one-way fastener inserters or heads, tools for permanently placing such fasteners, tools for removing certain of such fasteners and methods by which such fasteners are placed in, and in some cases removed from a workpiece.
It is standard for threaded (bolt and screw) fasteners to comprise a proximal head which can be tightened or loosened by rotation using a tool such as a wrench or screwdriver. The tool can be manual or powered. Thus, with such bolt and screw fasteners, removal after placement in a workpiece remains an option.
In some applications, permanent placement of fasteners would be desirable. Conventional threaded fasteners cannot so function, but, because they have a permanent tool-receiving head, remain removable even after being operatively connected to a workpiece.
By way of example only, because safes have in the past utilized removable threaded fasteners to assemble components, factory assembly has been required. Availability of permanently-placed fasteners would accommodate shipment of the separate safe components for assembly by the end user thereby reducing costs.
Other uses exist for permanently-placed, non-removable threaded fasteners.
In some cases, permanently placed fasteners, which nevertheless can be removed with a specialized tool when such is mandated, even if only rarely so, would likewise be desirable.
In brief summary, the present invention overcomes or substantially alleviates fastener-related problems of the past, and provides unique, permanently-placeable non-removable fasteners, permanently-placeable but removable inserter heads and specialized tools for placement of such fasteners, specialized tools for removal of permanently placed fasteners, and related methods.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the present invention to overcome or substantially alleviate fastener-related problems of the past.
It is a further object of great value to provide unique permanently-placeable non-removable fasteners, and related methods.
Another valuable object is the provision of novel permanently-placeable, yet removable fasteners.
It is another dominant object to provide novel inserter heads and/or specialized tools for placement of non-removable fasteners, and related methods.
An additional object is the provision of specialized tools for removal of permanently placed fasteners.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description taken with reference to the accompanying drawings.